Abu Hamza trying to get off the hooky

Abu Hamza trying to get off the hooky

Abu Hamza is one of five alleged Islamic terrorists due to be sent to ADX Florence in Colorado

The Daily Star Sunday has seen details of a medical report the fanatic’s lawyers used to try to block his extradition

Last week the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg ruled that the hook- handed zealot, who is 54 today, should be extradited to the United States to face trial on terror charges.

Hamza is one of five alleged Islamic terrorists due to be sent to ADX Florence in Colorado – a maximum security prison known as the “Alcatraz of the Rockies” because of its ultra-tough regime.

The jail already houses some of the world’s most dangerous terrorists, including Ramzi Yousef, mastermind of the 1993 attack on New York’s World Trade Center, and shoe bomber Richard Reid.

Hamza would be confined in a cramped 7ft x 12ft cell where food is handed through a slot in the door. But his legal team believe they can get him transferred to another jail, or another part of the complex, because of his health.

The Daily Star Sunday has seen details of a medical report the fanatic’s lawyers used to try to block his extradition.

It lists a series of Hamza’s ailments, including diabetes, high blood pressure, excessive sweating and loss of sight in his right eye.

But it is his missing hands which could help him dodge the notorious jail.

Since he was locked up in high-security Belmarsh prison eight years ago, Hamza has suffered severe infections to his stumps as a result of everyday activities such as turning on taps and opening doors, according to the medical report.

ADX Florence warden Robert Wiley said Hamza, will face a medical check at the prison and if “he cannot manage his activities of daily living, it would be highly unlikely that he would be placed at ADX Florence rather than at a medical centre”.

Hamza faces 11 terror charges in the States relating to the taking of 16 hostages in Yemen in 1998, spouting violent jihad in Afghanistan in 2001 and conspiring to set up a US training camp for Islamic extremists.

His co-accused in some of the charges, Haroon Rashid Aswat, who has been diagnosed with schizophrenia, has had his extradition ruling adjourned while the European Court waits for further evidence from the Government about his medical condition.

The court ruled that as well as Hamza, Babar Ahmad, Syed Tahla Ahsan, Adel Abdul Bary and Khaled Al-Fawwaz should be extradited to the US on terror charges. They have three months to appeal.

Hamza has been held in jail since his arrest in 2004. In 2006 he was sentenced to seven years in prison for terror offences including soliciting to murder while he was imam at London’s Finsbury Park mosque..